[lbo-talk] How Politics Ruined My Life: Was Fuck Hope

SA s11131978 at gmail.com
Thu Jan 15 20:05:47 PST 2009


Doug Henwood wrote:


> There's something in Orwell that's so resolutely common sense and
> ordinary that it's really annoying.

The impulse to wrought up ideas into objects of intricate, poetic grandiosity and beauty is one of the pleasures of being an intellectual, there's no denying it. But if the point is ultimately to make ideas that are true or useful then it's more an occupational hazard than a virtue. The appeal of Orwell, which I appreciate, is that he channels that desire for beauty into a search for clarity and reasonableness, which becomes a form of beauty in itself.

SA



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